Bound by Destiny
by Rebecca E. Richardson
Summary: (This story takes place post Kingdom Hearts 3. Details pertaining to what happens during that game will be my own fabrication.) Danari is a girl who who struggles with her memory and has lived on Destiny Islands her whole life. Life is confusing enough as it is, but when her best friends, Riku and Sora, return and don't remember who she is, things get more complicated.
1. Chapter 1

Danari dangled her feet over the edge, leaned back, and closed her eyes. The music of the endless sea flowed through her ears and nested in her heart. She let the salty wind buffet her hair and it tickled her back.

"I never enjoyed how peaceful our island is when we were kids," she said, and looked up at Tidus. He smiled and sat next to her on the bridge.

"Yeah, we were all too busy sword fighting and pretending this place was some kind of new world."

When Danari looked at the small beach, scattered coconut trees, and empty wooden shacks, she thought of everything her friends, Tidus and Selphie, reminisced about. They would race from one end of the island to the other, and pretend they were adventurers from far off lands. They always said they loved those days. Tidus and Selphie swore she was there, but Danari never really remembered any of it.

"Did we even spend any time on the main island?" Danari said with a giggle.

"Only to eat, sleep, and go to school," Tidus said. "And now we're supposed to be 'too old' for that kinda stuff."

"We were too old for that stuff when we were fourteen, but that never stopped us."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Tidus said, springing to his feet.

"I don't know… I don't think—"

"A duel!" Tidus threw his fist in the air and ran into the shack at the end of the bridge.

Danari stood up and called after him, "Tidus no! I'm in a dress!" But, Danari did miss holding the hilt of her wooden sword. She didn't recall the fights, but she remembered the feeling.

She sighed, then heard the knocking of wood against wood. Danari turned her head and saw a girl in a yellow sundress stepping out of a wooden, motorized, dinghy and onto the shallow, rotting dock.

"Selphie!" Danari called to her, and waved. She waved back, and headed toward the bridge.

"You decided to come after all," Tidus said as he emerged from the shack with two, beaten up, wooden swords.

Danari and Tidus jumped from the bridge and onto the sand beneath it. Selphie's hair curled up on the ends, so it bounced around her face when she shook her head.

"Not to stay," Selphie said. "I figured I had to come out here and tell you, since you always leave your phones at home."

"Did something happen?" Danari said. "Did someone get hurt? Not Mrs. Elly, is it? I know she's been getting worse."

"Mrs. Elly is great, actually. Her son came home."

"Sora?" Tidus said, and his eyes lit up. "What about Riku? And Kairi?"

"I don't know," Selphie said, but cracked a smile. "I bet, though."

"When? Did they say where they've been?"

"I don't know, I thought you should know before I went to see them." Selphie stepped back toward the dock. "They probably won't talk about it, though. Just like last time."

The last time anyone from Destiny Islands had seen or heard of Riku, Sora, and Kairi was two years ago. They all first went missing when they were fourteen. Kairi came home for half a year, but then she disappeared again. A year later, all three showed up again on this little offshore island. After they came home, they wouldn't talk about what happened to them, and the police couldn't figure it out either. Then, two months later Sora left. Then, out of the blue, they were all gone again. Everyone just figured they'd turn up again, like they eventually do, but their poor parents. They could hardly manage. Especially Mrs. Elly.

Tidus raced ahead and hopped onto the Jet Ski he and Danari took on the way over, and revved the engine.

"I'll ride with Selphie," Danari shouted. He nodded and sped off to the not-so-distant main island. From where Danari was, she could barely see the little houses that littered the edge of the vast shore.

Once Selphie and Danari scrambled into the little boat, the motor puttered to life, the wind blew in their faces, and the dinghy bounced on the wake left by Tidus's Jet Ski. Danari felt her stomach lurch and twist just when she began to salivate.

"I think I'm gonna be sick!" Danari said over the wind whipping against her ears. Selphie shut the motor off, and pulled the rudder straight.

"Lean over the side. I got your hair." She gathered Danari's hair into one hand, and rubbed her shoulder with the other.

Danari's eyes watered and her breath hastened, but the contents of her stomach stayed where they belonged.

"Let's just go slow," Danari said.

"I've never seen you seasick before," Selphie said, turning the motor on to a low hum.

"Maybe it's not seasickness," Danari mumbled. "I actually feel kinda nervous."  
"Why? 'Cause Sora's back?"

"I guess so." Danari paused for a moment, and tried assembling her thoughts. She hardly remembered anything about them. Not even what they looked like. "It's just, I don't know what I'd say to him. Or Riku and Kairi either."

"They'll probably want us to act like normal. You know, like the old days."

"I don't remember what normal is."


	2. Chapter 2

Selphie insisted on stopping at her house before going to Mrs. Elly's because she said it looked like a couple of sparrows started a family in their hair. She forced a brush into Danari's hands, and rushed into her bathroom to touch up her makeup.

Danari ran Selphie's brush through her hair, and felt her stomach somersault again. She couldn't get her mind off of all the time she spent with Sora, Riku, and Kairi, but each time she thought back on a memory, she realized how empty it was. They all grew up together, played on their off-shore island together, but there were no details. No inside jokes, no moments of tenderness, no emotion. They were her best friends, but for some reason Danari felt like she was going to meet them for the first time.

"Ready?" Selphie said and popped out of the bathroom holding a small leather purse.

"Do you sometimes feel…? Nevermind. Let's go." The thought that Selphie might feel the same way about their old friends loosened the tightness in Danari's chest, but the way Selphie always talked about them convinced her that she was alone on this one.

"I wonder how different Riku will be this time," Selphie said, once she closed her front door behind them.

"What's that mean?" Danari said. Perhaps there was a chance Danari wasn't crazy after all.

"Well you remember. He was all moody and stuff last time they came home."

"Wasn't he always moody?" Now that Selphie mentioned it, Danari thought she knew what Selphie meant, but just like always, those memories seemed barely out of reach.

"What are you talking about? You of all people should've notice the difference."

"You know me. I can't remember anything that happened a month ago."

Danari's shoulders were tingling like they always did when she was about to get sunburnt, so she was glad when they came to the small house with the red terra-cotta roof. Most of the houses on this gravel road looked like that, but the intricate painting of the galaxy on the front door marked this house as Mrs. Elly's.

They walked up the three stars leading to the door, and Danari took in a deep breath before pressing her finger against the small round doorbell. She heard music like wind chimes coming from behind the door, then a thump, followed by hasty footsteps. Perhaps it wasn't too late to bail. There was still time to convince Selphie to play ding-dong-ditch and avoid this whole ordeal, but then the door flew open and Danari found herself face-to-face with a jubilant Mrs. Elly. Her smile was so wide, Danari thought it was permanently melted into her apple-like cheeks.

"Come in! Come in! I'm so excited to see you girls! Tidus said you were on your way, and I think they're all waiting for you upstairs," she said, and ushered Danari and Selphie inside her foyer filled with spinning mobiles. She gave them a tight squeeze, but her little arms couldn't fit around the both of them. "You're both so adorable. This way! Oh, my I almost forgot, I have some cookies in the oven. Danari, sugar, you wouldn't mind giving me a hand."

"Of course not," Danari sputtered, but only after Mrs. Elly had grasped her hand and emphatically pulled her to the kitchen.

The whole room was decorated in earthy colors, and the counters were covered in little trinkets that made it look like a gift shop. Mrs. Elly grabbed a chicken shaped pot-holder and pulled open the oven door. Coconut and vanilla swirled into Danari's nose, and her mouth watered.

"You can put these on a plate once they've cooled off a bit. Oh, I've dropped one." Mrs. Elly leaned over to pick the fallen cookie off the floor while attempting to balance the hot tray of cookies on one hand. Danari rushed over, snatched up a cow shaped pot-holder, and took the tray from her, just before the other cookies slipped off of it.

"Gracious! You're quick on your feet, aren't you," Mrs. Elly said. "I should have you around the kitchen more often."

Danari smiled, and felt a warmth cluster in her chest. She laid out the cookies like a pyramid, and stuffed two in her mouth when Mrs. Elly wasn't looking. Most coconut cookies crumble, but Mrs. Elly's cookies were so moist that Danari thought they could be pies. All twenty-seven cookies were able to fit on two plates.

"Wonderful. Take one of those up with you," Mrs. Elly said, and pushed Danari back towards the foyer where the stairs were.

Danari appreciated her brief moment with Mrs. Elly, because it helped her nerves settle a little bit. Walking up the stairs, Danari even felt a little excited to see her estranged friends. She heard four voices coming from the second door down the hall, so she pushed the door open.

It was a small room, with zig-zag wallpaper and beige carpet. Tidus sat in a simple oak desk chair, and Selphie was leaned against the desk behind it. On the twin bed beneath the window sat two boys Danari had never seen before, yet she recognized them immediately. The boy with spikey brown hair and a black shirt was Sora, and the taller boy with long silver hair was Riku. How could she have so easily forgotten what her close friends looked like?

"Hey, guys," Danari said. Riku eyebrows were furrowed, and Sora stared at her with his mouth hanging slightly open.

"Sora's mom finally let you go, huh?" Selphie said. She never let tense silences last too long.

"Yeah, she had me bring up some cookies." Danari held out the plate, but only Tidus took one, so she handed him the whole plate and sat on the floor next to Selphie. "So… where've you guys been?" Danari tried to sound casual, because she figured they had heard that question one too many times already.

Riku kept staring at Danari with the same, muddled expression. Sora let out a single laugh and said, "Oh, um. Here and there."

"They're not telling, again," Tidus said. "Sora's mom said the police will try to get it out of them tomorrow."

"Didn't work last time, did it?" Sora said, jabbing Riku in the ribs with his elbow.

"What about Kairi? Did she come back with you?" Danari said.

"So you're one of Kairi's friends," Riku said, and his expression softened.

"Well, yeah," Danari said.

"Oh! Well, she's coming later, I think. She hadn't decided yet before we left," Sora said. He sprung off of the bed, put on a goofy smile, and stuck out his hand. "I'm Sora, by the way, and this is Riku."


	3. Chapter 3

Danari's face felt hot and her hands were sticky. She wanted to ask why he was introducing himself, but her tongue felt like peanut butter on the roof of her mouth.

"What are you doing?" Selphie asked.

"Being friendly," Sora said.

"But that's Danari," Tidus said. "You know. Best friends since we were eight, grew up together. All that."

"She doesn't look that different. It's only been two years," Selphie said, and she stood up to go check her own reflection in Sora's mirror.

"Maybe you've got me mixed up with someone else," Sora said. "I only ever hung out with you guys, Riku, and Kairi."

"And Danari. Tell him, Riku." Selphie said, turning back around to face the group.

Riku had moved from his spot on the bed and was squatting next to Danari. He didn't say anything, but he looked up at Sora with raised eyebrows and shrugged his shoulders.

"This isn't funny guys," Danari said. She knew this had to be a joke. Selphie must have told them about her recent lapse in memory, and they thought it would be hilarious to psych her out.

"I really don't think we've met before," Sora said. "But I'm always up for having new friends!"

"I'm not a new friend," Danari said. "We're already friends. Stop messing around. Selphie, call off the prank."

"Me? I didn't set up any prank," Selphie said.

"Don't. This isn't fair." Danari stood up and pressed her lips together to fight back tears. Not understanding her own memories was bad enough without some of her best friends not remembering who she was. She couldn't piece together her memories of them, and they didn't even recognize her. Danari knew this wasn't some coincidence, but couldn't believe her friends would be cruel enough to keep dragging this out.

"I think it's best if you left," Riku said. He looked at Sora, and Sora's eyes widened.

"You can't kick her out of my room," Sora said.

"All right, fine. But she should go. I mean they all should go," Riku said. He leaned closer to Sora and whispered, "I think this might be more serious than a misunderstanding."

"What? So you aren't kidding around?" Danari said. Her heart picked up speed, and she searched Tidus and Selphie's faces for any sort of answers, but they looked just as appalled as she felt.

"Maybe Riku's right," Sora said. "We can all catch up on Tuesday, or something, and go get milkshakes. Maybe a little brain freeze will jog our memories." He laughed half-heartedly, but it did little to lighten the mood.

Danari didn't know what to think. She knew coming here was a bad idea, but she had hoped spending time with Sora and Riku would help clean up her memories, not muddy the waters. Selphie put her arm around Danari's shoulders and led her out the door with Tidus on their tail. They were halfway down the stairs when Mrs. Elly came bustling out from the kitchen.

"Going so soon?" She said. "I just put some key lime pie in the oven. Oh, you three should stay for supper! I'm sure Sora would love that."

"We've actually got to go," Selphie said. "I wish we could stay."

"School project," Danari said. She felt bad for lying to her because she always went out of her way to make Danari feel at home, but she didn't want her to think something was wrong.

"I see. Well, did they tell you anything about where they've been?"

"Afraid not," Tidus said.

"I don't understand why Sora would do this to me." Her knuckles turned white from her grip on the chicken pot-holder. "Ah but I'm sorry dears. Do forgive me. You've got to get going."

She gave each of them a hug before waving goodbye and closing the door behind them. The sound of the door locking behind her acted like a trigger to Danari's emotions, and she gasped in order to keep the sobs from overflowing out of her mouth. Selphie touched her arm, but Danari knocked it away and ran off the porch and towards the shore.


	4. Chapter 4

Danari stood at the shoreline with her sandals in her hand and listened to the gentle gush of the ocean's waves. She wiggled her toes in the sand and let the wash bury her feet, and couldn't help but feel connected to the footprints left behind; moulded by something she belongs to, but washed away by the tide, and left as if she had never been there to begin with.

She waded out, knee-deep into the water, sat, and moved her waist with the rhythm of the waves. She tried to compile everything she knew in the hopes of making sense of all the gaps.

Her five friends and herself practically lived on their little offshore island. Sora's dad would paddle them over and read a book while they clashed wooden swords and tried to pick paupu fruit off the lopsided tree. After all the fun was had, he would bring them home, drop Danari off, and then… nothing. It was mostly the same, especially during summertime, until they were old enough to own their own boats. The memories were hazy, not all the details were there, but that was everything she knew. She only remembered the time she spent with her friends; not her time spent in class or alone, and there was hardly anything about her parents. That was probably because they're always too busy for her anyway, because they lived their lives as if they didn't have a daughter at all.

Danari picked up a small clam and held it under water so it would slowly open it's shell, until she lifted it up and it snapped shut.

"I don't blame you for hiding," she said, and placed the clam back on the sandy ocean floor. Everything for the past month was crystal clear, but she feared that those memories too would soon start to fade.

She pushed herself up and wrung out her dripping sundress. She waded out of the ocean and let the sand build up on her wet feet, although it was chafing between her toes. When she made it to the boardwalk, she rinsed off in the little foot shower and slipped her black sandals back on.

The walk back home wasn't too far, so Danari took her time to enjoy the pink, setting sun. She kicked along a large pebble until one of the sharp edges hit a nerve in her big toe. She limped around the street corner and saw Riku sitting on the porch steps of the house next to hers.

"Fabulous," she mumbled to herself. Perhaps he'd just ignore her.

He was scraping the bark off a short stick, so Danari tried sneaking past when his knife got snagged on a knot in the wood, and he might be too distracted to pay any attention to her. She walked on her toes so her wet sandals wouldn't smack against her heels after each step.

Danari made it up her porch steps and had one hand on the doorknob, thinking she successfully avoided confrontation, when he said, "Danari, was it?"

"Um, yeah," she said, and let her hand fall to her side.

"About earlier, I wanted to say- what happened to you?" Riku looked up from his work and noticed her soaked dress.

"I went… swimming," Danari said. It wasn't entirely true, but it was better than saying she was wallowing with a clam.

"Oh. Um, anyway, I wanted to say I'm sorry. I was kinda rude. I don't know why Sora and I don't recognize you, but I guess it's not really your fault. We just have to figure out what's going on, right?" He paused for a moment, but when Danari did nothing but fiddle with her keys, he said, "I guess I should've known we're neighbors, huh?"

"I guess so," Danari said. She had no idea either, but once the words left Riku's mouth, memories of running out her front door and knocking on his to see if he wanted to come out and play flooded her thoughts. She touched her hand to her forehead and suddenly felt lightheaded.

"Are you all right?" Riku asked, placing his knife on the stoop next to him. "You look like you're about to pass out."

"Maybe, I don't know what… I'm gonna go lie down." Danari turned her door knob and stumbled inside.


	5. Chapter 5

Danari leaned all her weight against her door and stumbled through the frame. Her head swam worse than it ever had before, and she had to grip the white moulding on the wall to keep herself steady. Typically, her flashbacks didn't leave her feeling woozy, but Riku's presence made her feel a little uneasy.

The sound of forks against plates resounded from the kitchen, so Danari stumbled through the little hallway. Her parents had started dinner without her, again, but it didn't bother Danari like it used to. She knew she wasn't the first thing on her parents' mind, but sometimes she felt they didn't really want her around. All traces of her childhood were removed from their perfectly clean, white floors, and no pictures of her lined the blue painted walls, except for one which was taken at the Sea Turtles festival last month.

When Danari rounded the corner to the kitchen, she felt like she was intruding on an intimate moment. Her mother was wearing a tight-fitted red dress, her father was in a suit, and there was a candle lit between them. Upon seeing Danari, her mother dropped her fork on her plate and sprang out of her chair.

"Danari! Oh goodness, I'm sorry, I thought— I mean weren't you supposed to be out today?" She said, teetering towards Danari on a pair of tan stilettos. Her silky blond hair always came apart when she felt flustered. "For dinner, I mean."

"You forgot to make me dinner again?" Danari said, but she didn't really feel like picking an argument. She swooned forward, and her mom jerked her arms out.

"Oh, gosh, what's wrong, sweetheart?" Her mother said, pulling her into the living room, which was separated from the kitchen by a half-wall. "You don't look good at all. Here, lay down."

Danari fell against the plush, suede sofa, and felt like her head was being dragged down to the floor. Her heart rate was high, she could feel her heart pounding in her chest, and her hands were going numb. A few words mumbled out of her lips, but she didn't know what she was saying. She felt so heavy, she just wanted to lay down, close her eyes, but she was afraid she would lose all consciousness. Her head was cold, and still so heavy, and she couldn't hold it up any longer.

It didn't feel like she had fainted, but Danari couldn't move any of her limbs. She could hear her mother shouting for her father to bring a cold washcloth, and quietly whisper panicked "Oh, Gods."

_What's going on?_ Danari thought. _Did I pass out? _She felt unexplainable calm, just moments before, thinking about going unconscious sent a wave of terror through her, but now she felt a dream-like serenity.

_No, dear,_ a thought said. It wasn't a voice, it was like any of Danari's own thoughts, but she knew it came from somewhere else. _You're just fine, don't worry one tiny bit._

_Who is this? What are you doing in my head?_ Danari thought.

_Keep your friends close._

_What does that mean?_

_Keep them close. Protect them, at all costs._

_What's going to happen to my friends?_ The panic had begun to set in again, but Danari also felt her body waking up. _Wait! What's going to happen to my friends? _She thought, but her fingers were already twitching and her head started pounding.

Danari opened her eyes, but her vision was obscured by a wet rag draped across her face. She lifted a shaky had to move the cloth, and found her mother staring at her, wide-eyed, and three inches away from her face.

"Oh thank goodness, you're awake now!" Her mother said, kissing Danari on the forehead.

Danari sat up, slowly to keep the blood in her head, and ran her fingers through her hair. What was that voice, and what did it mean, protect them? Danari shook her head. It was probably a strange dream. She just passed out, and nothing more.

"She's getting too much sun on that island of hers," Danari's father grumbled from the kitchen table. He always hated the island, ever since Riku, Sora, and Kairi disappeared the first time.

"Sunshine never made anyone sick, Dad," Danari mumbled. "I was at Mrs. Elly's most of the day anyway."

Her father turned, and peered at her over his rimless glasses. "Then why are you soaking wet?"

"Oh…" Danari had almost forgotten her drenched dress that had made a lovely water stain on the couch. She wondered if her mother's concerned look was for the sake of her daughter or her furniture. "I took a walk on the boardwalk on my way home. I guess I took a dip in the ocean too."

"You guess so?"

"Leave her alone, Rick," Danari's mother hissed, before she turned to Danari and said, "Sweetie, why don't go get yourself in some warm clothes, and I'll bring some dinner to your room."

Danari nodded, slowly lifted herself onto her wobbly legs, and trudged up the stairs. She hardly wanted to eat anything, but after feeling so faint it was probably a good idea. The door squeaked when she pushed it open, and she flicked on the light switch. A small lamp with a yellow shade cast an orange glow on the walls her small room. Danari opened the doors to her chestnut wardrobe, which looked like it belonged in a college dorm. Her room didn't have a built-in closet, and Danari liked to say it was because her room _was_ a closet. At least she'd have something to take with her when she left the island.

Danari loved Destiny Islands, but with her lapse in memory, and less-than-dutiful parents, she hoped to go away and start her life over. It wouldn't matter if she couldn't remember her friends, or if her friends couldn't remember her, because she could just pick up and go somewhere else and start over again. Everyone said that Destiny Islands was it and there was nothing else out there. _But,_ Danari thought, _if that were true, where is Kairi now?_

Danari pulled a pair of pale yellow shorts out of the first drawer, and a black tube-top with gold buttons down the front, off the hanger. Guilt started to well up inside her when she thought about leaving Selphie and Tidus behind, but she shook her head, pushed the thought out of her mind, and she slipped off her wet sundress. As she pulled her shorts up, she remembered what that thought had said. If she left them behind, she couldn't protect them. Her tube-top always slipped down a bit too low, so she pulled a pair of short, yellow suspenders out of the wardrobe's bottom drawer and clipped them over her shoulders. She was just being stupid, it was just a dream. Besides, if Sora and Riku can forget her so easily, who's to say Tidus and Selphie won't either? She picked up a thick-chained necklace from her modest desk and slipped it over her head. The point on the heart-shaped pendant pricked her finger.

"Don't be so ridiculous," Danari said to herself, and she flopped onto her twin bed.

Just as Danari's eyelids started to droop, her mother's voice drifted up the stairs. "Danari! You have a visitor! Come on down!"

Groggily, she pushed herself up and patted her face to wake up. At the bottom of the stairs, Selphie was standing with her usual happy-go-lucky smile on her face. Danari smiled back, and when she reached the ground she motioned toward the front door so the two of them could have some privacy from her father's snooping ears. They sat on the front steps, and looked at their distant little island that appeared as the size of a mango slice.

"Every time we visit the island, it feels a little be smaller than it did before," Selphie said, holding her thumb up in front of her. After a few seconds of silence she asked, "Are you okay? You know, after Mrs. Elly's?"

Danari looked down at her shoes, hoping to hide the tears that were welling up in her eyes. She was afraid to speak, because she might let the bubbling sobs escape between her open lips. This always happened when someone asked her if she was all right; it was like some kind of tears trigger.

"I'm fine," she managed to squeak out, but she still avoided eye contact with Selphie.

"If you say so," Selphie said with hesitation. "Maybe they just ate some bad chicken, or maybe they're just tired. But if you really wanna know what I think, I think their kidnappers brainwashed them or something."

"Kidnappers?" Danari said. Sora and Riku denied being kidnapped and most people believed them since they eventually turn up again, especially since they're all old enough to take care of themselves now.

"Well, it's not so far-fetched. I mean, somebody had to have done that. Why else would they have forgotten you?"

Danari inhaled sharply at the word "forgotten." Selphie's eyes looked apologetic, then she started rummaging through her handbag. She pulled out a circular pin about the size of her palm, with a metallic rope running weaved within it.

"I picked this up at Shimmer Mill the other day, but I want to give it to you," Selphie said, holding the pin out towards Danari. "It's to symbolize that Tidus and I will never forget you. We're the circle, and our friendship is the rope that is binding it together."

Danari took the pin, and fastened it to the left shoulder suspender strap. Another wave of guilt coursed through her for ever thinking her closest friends would forsake her. She ran her fingers over the twisted rope and said, "Thank you, this means a lot to me. Really, it does."

"Don't mention— hey, what's that?" Selphie said, turning her attention back to the island. Danari saw a small light emitting from the island's shore, and it appeared to be swirling with darker shades of purple. "Nobody ever goes to our island. Just us. So who's there?"

"There's someone in that boat, headed for it," Danari said, squinting her eyes at the figure floating towards the island.

"Do you think something's wrong?" Selphie said. "Oh, no! What if it's a fire! We've gotta do something or the whole place is going to burn!"

"Calm down, there's not smoke. But I think you're right, we should go check it out."

"Well— hey!" Selphie shouted, but Danari had already stood up and taken off for the dock.


	6. Chapter 6

Danari hopped out of the dinghy and onto the rickety dock. She held out a hand for Selphie to hold on to, but she scanned the sandy expanse for the swirling light. Selphie and Danari sailed to the side of the island in order to avoid attracting the attention of whoever was in the other boat. Selphie thought they were being irrational, and it was probably just Tidus with the same idea as them, but Danari still felt uneasy about it.

"I think we have to go to the other side," Selphie said as she tied the boat to the pier. "We're gonna be seen anyway, so I don't see the point-"

"Do you want to disappear, too?" Danari said, and she ran over to the wooden door that separates the front half of the island from the back. She considered using the tall wooden platforms to see over the foliage that separates it, but she knew that was a little too unrealistic.

"I just don't see how a shiny light is going to make us disappear."

"Whatever, just be quiet," Danari said, and she slowly pushed the door just hard enough to squeeze through the opening.

On the way over, Selphie noticed the light looked a little higher than ground level. In order to see it better, Danari thought it would be best to sneak onto the raised land and climb up the paopu tree. She siddled to the left and snuck into the shack where Tidus had found their old, toy swords. Selphie snuck in after her, and Danari motioned for her to follow up the steps and onto the bridge.

"Don't you think we'll be a bit obvious standing here?" Selphie said, hanging back by one of the palm trees.

"Their boat is already docked," Danari said, pointing at the rickety pier. "And I don't see who it is anywhere."

"Oh, then what about that boat?" Selphie gazed back toward the ocean, where another silhouetted figure was rowing into the island.

"Crap!" Danari said, and she leapt behind the other twin palm tree by the bridge. "We've got to find it before it gets here."

Danari crawled over to the shack roof, and jumped off the ledge, checking behind her momentarily to make sure Selphie was following her. She crept along the edge of the spring, and then over the massive tree roots of the giant tree that grows in the middle of the island.

"Ow! Dang it, Danari, this is ridiculous!" Selphie hissed. Danari looked back and saw that Selphie holding on to her knee, which was covered in patchy red spots. "We aren't playing ninjas, or spies. Come on." She limped away from the tree, and marched up to the little wooden ladder that lead to the spiral walkway around the tree.

"Do you think this is some kind of game?" Danari said, jogging to catch up.

"Oh, put a sock in it. We'll be fine."

Selphie took the lead, and bounded up the ladder and around the planks. Wincing every time the wood creaked, Danari followed her and hopped over all the weak spots. Her nerves were starting to nag at her chest, and she had the worst feeling she was about to see something she shouldn't. Still, she felt compelled to keep going, like a moth floating into a streetlamp.

When Danari looked up from her feet, she saw the light. It was slightly larger than a human, and it would have been blinding if it weren't for the swirling, deep purple glow in the center. She felt mesmerized, and a feeling of desperation formed in the pit of her stomach. She had to get closer. She took a few steps past Selphie, who also had a somewhat dazed look on her face, but never took her eyes off the illumination.

"I told you we had nothing to worry about," Selphie said in almost a whisper.

Sora was sitting on the railing, near where he and Tidus used to practice sword fighting when they were younger. He was swinging his legs, and looked mildly irritated at the other boat sailing into the island. Danari expected to feel relief that these mysterious figures weren't kidnappers, but her chest still constricted her lungs.

"I still don't think we should be here," she said, her throat catching her words.

"You're right, let's go," Selphie responded, and put a hand on Danari's shoulder. "I'm starting to get freaked out."

Danari took two steps backwards, then stopped. It was like her shoes were glued to the wooden planks beneath her feet. They were going to leave again, she knew it. Riku and Sora were going to abandon their friends and family, and poor Mrs. Elly would relapse into her distress and keep hiding behind her cheerless smile. But there was something else too. As hurt as Danari was that they forgot about her, Sora and Riku were her buddies.

_Protect your friends._

The thought blitzed through her mind, and just like last time, it didn't seem to be her own. It was in her head again, whatever it was, and fear spread out from her heart and reached into the tips of her fingers and toes. She tried to run, but she only fell to her knees, still unable to move her feet. Selphie, who had made it halfway down the ladder, looked up when she heard Danari's knees crack on the wood.

"Hurry up, Danari, before something bad happens," Selphie said, just loud enough for Danari to hear. She always looked so naive to Danari, like she always expected the best to come out of any bad situation, but she looked afraid on that ladder. Her eyebrows were pulled together, and left a tiny wrinkle just above their tips. She was so mild mannered, she belonged on Destiny Islands. Danari would have to leave her behind one day or another.

"I had this dream," Danari said slowly. "I… can't really explain, but I think I need to help Sora and Riku."

"What? Are you insane?"

"They're going somewhere again, and I can't stay here anymore." Danari started to feel her legs tremble, so she stood up to regain control.

"But-"

"So, you head back. I can't… I'm sorry," she said, trying to maintain control of her voice. "You're my best friend. Remember that just in case, okay?"

"Danari, no-!"

Danari turned on her feet and sprinted down the rest of the walkway, then threw herself onto a plank over the opening in a wall, which was only being held up by a branch the size of a walking stick. A crackling sounded from beneath her, so she scrambled to her toes and leapt for the next walkway just as the branch gave way and the board fell to the ground. Because the board was unstable, Danari didn't get the push she needed, and she didn't make the jump. She stretched out her arms, and her left fingertips managed to grip onto the edge of the wood. Her right hand barely grazed the ledge, so she carefully swung herself side to side. Her left arm was shaking, and she felt her fingertips slipping, but she managed to get a firm grip with her right hand and pull herself onto the platform before she fell. She looked over the ledge, and it wasn't that far of a fall, but that didn't help ease her heavy breathing.

"Who's there?" Sora's voice carried around the corner. "Riku?"

Danari bit her lip and looked for a place to hide, because she heard Sora's footsteps coming toward her. There were a couple low hanging tree branches above her, but she wouldn't be able to pull herself up in time, not to mention the loud rustling the leaves would make. This walkway was also wrapped around a large tree, so she backed around the trunk slowly, careful to watch for creaky boards. The hollow footsteps sounded like they left the wooden platform, and Danari felt the walkway jiggle with Sora's weight.

"Sora," an orotund voice called from the opposite side of the island. Danari recognized it as Riku's. He must've had the same idea about sailing to the opposite side of the island. He waited a moment, then ran back to the railing. Danari let out a sigh, then edged closer to listen in.

"I thought be coming from that way, I heard a noise," Sora said.

"Probably just Selphie. I saw her leaving when I got here. She looked upset, but she said she'd been alone."

Danari's chest hurt for Selphie, but she must have understood or she would have ratted her out. What would Selphie tell Tidus? What would she tell her parents? She touched the pin on her shoulder, and wished she'd had more time to say a proper goodbye.


	7. Chapter 7

Sora and Riku didn't say anything for a while, but Danari could hear a bit of rustling and grunting, which sounded like Riku had somehow used the fat tree trunk to climb onto the platform.

"Did you send for the corridor?" Sora finally said when the rustling had stopped.

"No, they must want us to come back," Riku replied, with no hint of exhaustion in his voice.

"But we haven't even been here a whole day yet!"

"I don't know. Maybe something happened?" Riku said. "You must've talked to Kairi at some point."

"Yeah, but she didn't say anything. We just talked about what it was like being back, and that weird thing with that girl, what's-her-face."

"Danari."

Danari flinched at the mention of her name, but took a couple steps closer so she could peer around the rounded corner. Riku stood near the swirling light with his arm outstretched towards it. Sora stood a little farther away with his arms crossed and his bottom lip sticking out.

"Maybe she told Seridessa," Riku offered, and walked toward the swirling light. "Maybe I was right, and that girl is a threat."

"But, if she's dangerous, we shouldn't be leaving her here with our families," Sora shouted, but Riku had already stepped into the light and disappeared. "Aww, man! C'mon! I don't wanna go back yet!"

Sora stood still, and pinched the tip of one giant, brown, hair spike on the side of his head. He kept looking between the island and the swirling mass, as if he was contemplating whether or not to follow Riku. Danari stared at the dazzling light, waiting for Riku to walk out the other side, and when he didn't, she remembered that Sora had called it a corridor. The boys talked as if it were a way of getting off the island and going back to wherever they keep disappearing to, so Danari concluded it must be some kind of portal or teleportation device. Her heart pounded, as if it were about to rip out of her chest and throw itself into the corridor. This was her chance to get away from the island, the pain of forgetting, and the pain of being forgotten.

As much as her bones ached to leap into the light, her mind kept directing back to what Riku said. He thought she was a threat, and they were leaving because of her. She couldn't understand what she had done to Riku to deserve that. He of all people should know she was harmless, but if they didn't remember her...

An unfamiliar memory popped into Danari's head, and she had to stabilize herself against the tree trunk. A twelve-year-old Riku and eleven-year-old Danari were sitting on the rickety dock on the island. Sora ran up behind them with a can of worms, and Riku hooked one onto a fishing line. Danari squirmed a little when he handed her the bamboo shaft, because she hated the idea of catching a poor, innocent fishy, and dragging it out it's home by the lips. She remembered Riku telling her it doesn't hurt them, but she couldn't bring herself to cast the line.

Danari shook her head to dissolve the memory, and whispered, "They're just upset and confused. Thats all."

She returned her attention to Sora, who was muttering something about a guy named Donald squawking at him if he didn't go back. He took a deep breath, and stepped into the corridor. Several moments passed, and when he didn't pop out of the other side, Danari stepped out of her hiding place and onto the wooden deck. She was only a few steps away from the light when her steps faltered. Anything could be waiting on the other side, if this even was some sort of portal, and she had nothing to defend herself, much less to defend her friends.

"It's no big deal. It's nothing to fear." Danari stretched an arm in front of her, and brushed the purple light. It didn't feel like anything, but it started to curl around her finger tip and trail down her hand. She jerked her arm backwards, but upon inspection, her finger looked no different than usual. Again, she stuck out her arm and this time let the swirling light gently swaddle her hand, as if it were saying, 'You have nothing to fear.'

Once the glowing, purple light had swirled its way up to her elbow, her brain's fight or flight reflex kicked in. All the while Danari had been watching Sora, her stomach had been tying itself in knots, and now it felt like the knot turned to ice, which was quickly melting into panic. She wasn't ready for this. Who was she to think she could protect her friends? She couldn't do this.

Danari took a step back and pulled her elbow in, but this time the light kept its grip on her arm. She tugged again, but she couldn't break free. Her eyes flitted up, and she saw that the light was rapidly shrinking. The corridor was closing, and her entire arm had been completely swallowed. There was nothing else to do but throw herself in with a brave face, or close her eyes and let the void swallow her. Danari ignored her racing heart, took one deep breath, and thrust herself forward.


	8. Chapter 8

A light flickered before Danari, as if someone had just taken a picture of her in the dark and forgot to turn off the flash. She blinked several times to dispel the black dots swimming in her vision, but when they didn't dissipate, she realized that the place she was in was whirling with white, black, and blue splotches. The expanse appeared to melt into itself, like a lava lamp, and when she looked down, she was hovering several inches above the colors. She stomped her foot, slamming it hard into an invisible surface, and the echo ricocheted far in front of her.

"Hello?" Danari shouted. Riku and Sora came through here too, so she might not've been too far behind them. Now that she was in the corridor, there was no point in staying undercover. She could play dumb and say she touched it by accident, or just be honest and tell them she came to bring them home. Several moments passed, but no response followed. She had already lost them, her mission had already failed, but perhaps it wasn't to late to go back home and pretend like this never happened. This whole idea was ridiculous anyway, as if she could take on new worlds and keep her friends from harm. She didn't even know if they were in danger to begin with. Who did she think she is?

Danari swiveled around, expecting to see the purple, bright light she leaped through, but instead she only saw more of the same churning splotches stretching endlessly out in front of her. She sighed, and despondently curled her fingers out where the entrance would have been, and felt a wall. It looked like she was suspended in nothingness, but she felt trapped like a mime in an invisible box.

_Of course, _Danari thought. _I follow them, lose them, and now I'm stuck, on my own, to lie in the grave I've dug for myself. _

"I guess there's only one way to go," Danari said, in hopes that the sound of her own voice might comfort her, or at least convince herself this was actually real. She shook her head and reminded herself why she left in the first place, regardless of whether or not she kept track of Sora and Riku. She wanted a new life, an adventure, and this definitely looked like the beginning of one.

The strange place looked the same on all sides, so when Danari turned and took a step forward, she held her hands out in front of her. After a few tentative steps and no invisible wall, she put her arms down and focused on what lied ahead. If she squinted her eyes, she could see another light that looked like the one back on the island.

"I guess that's the way out," she whispered, but this time her voice didn't keep her calm. Her stomach seized up with urgency, and the walls immediately felt like they were closing in on her. She couldn't let this exit vanish and trap her in this corridor of oblivion.

The exit didn't look like it was getting closer, but that might have been because it was so far away. Danari's pace and heartbeat hastened with every step, until she felt she would burst out of her skin if she didn't reach the light soon. Almost involuntarily, she broke into a run while keeping her eyes fixated on the tiny speck ahead of her. It remained the same, never growing, and she knew she was getting nowhere. There was a snap between her toes, and Danari fell to her knees after the foamy part of her sandal flopped behind her heel. Her hands shook as she fumbled to get the shoes off her feet. When they came free, she tossed them to the side and hurdled to her feet.

She kept sprinting for what seemed like an hour, though Danari knew it could've only been ten to fifteen minutes. Her lungs burned when they filled with her wheezing breaths, her legs felt like they might collapse, and her feet ached from the smacking against the floor with nothing to protect them. Despite her mind screaming to reach the end of this corridor, her body refused to keep up the pace. She slowed to a walk and put her hands on her hips, kicking herself for not being in better shape. The light, still, only looked like a speck in the distance.

"There is no way!" Danari shouted, and she let out a scream that boomeranged around the invisible hall. She dropped to her knees, and put her head between her hands. "Why?"

Maybe she didn't jump through the portal soon enough, and now she was stuck in a place in between. Maybe Riku and Sora closed the exit, not knowing she was still in there, and she would be trapped until they went back home. But that could take years, so she had to find a way to get out now. After a few deep breaths, she was able to clear out her panicked thoughts of doom and gloom.

Danari pushed herself to her feet and shouted, "Is anyone listening?" Nothing but silence. "Let me out!" Still no response, and the room remained the same. Danari didn't think that would've worked, but she figured it was worth a shot.

She looked behind herself, and realized she had no idea how far she had really come. The only indication was that her flip-flops were nowhere to be seen. If this place had been flat, she didn't understand how she could be far enough to not see at least a speck that hangs still among the bubbling colors, but she never felt a change in elevation or that she was running on some sort of hill. Nothing in this room made any sense.

Logical thinking didn't feel right, because Danari wasn't sure if this place was even bound by the laws of physics. If she had been able to think logically, she would have reached the exit by now, or she wouldn't be here in the first place. If a place like this can even exist, and if she wants to live in another world, Danari would have to keep an open mind about the way things work.

Perhaps Danari could summon the exit to her. She didn't have magical powers, but maybe she could draw from the magic of the room. She dropped her eyes to focus on a swirling blue speck beneath her feet, and willed the exit to appear before her. Her eyebrows knitted together so tightly that she gave herself a headache. Nothing happened.

Next, she closed her eyes and imagined herself walking back through the swirling purple glow, and ending up in another world. She pictured red poppies that spotted a the grassy areas between the gray, cobblestone pathway leading her through a little village filled with tan houses with blue roofs. It was a peaceful place, and she imagined that all the little people who lived there were sweet, kind, and grew gardens in their backyards. When Danari opened her eyes and saw the ever-present wriggling colors, her heart ached a little. She knew it wouldn't work, but she couldn't help but feel connected to the place.

"Oh, I feel ridiculous. I don't even know where this exit will take me anyway," Danari said.

Her words acted like a fuse between two hot wires. Maybe the problem was this room didn't know where to take her. It might not be a corridor between Destiny Islands and some other world, but a corridor between any two places. The only way to get out was to know where she was going, and Danari only had limited information.

She lowered her eyelids again, but this time pictured herself standing between Sora and Riku. She threw her arms around their shoulders, and smiled. Her dream village crept back into her thoughts, but she quickly shoved it out of the way focused on remembering her friends' faces. When she opened her eyes, the light was swirling three feet away.

"I did it!" Danari said, jumping up a little. She didn't want to waste any more time, so she rushed forward into the exit without any hesitation.

Once again, Danari saw that bright flash as she came out on the other side. The sun was bright here, so she put a hand up to her forehead to shade her eyes. She was in a city plaza, surrounded by tan houses with red roofs and dark wood supports. The middle was dented in, and four pathways trailed evenly around the circle. Between each pathway was a bed of red, white, and yellow tulips and three cleanly sheared trees.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" Danari yelled, and started hopping from one foot to the other. The grey stone beneath her feet was hot in the sun, and the warmth began to burn her soles. She jumped around in a circle to take in her surroundings, when she saw two figures that looked like Sora and Riku strolling down a road that led towards the giant, pinkish castle with a set of bronze cogs on the front. She smiled, glad to know she hadn't lost them after all, and started hopping down the same path.

"Don't you need some shoes, lassie?" said a voice behind her.

Slightly startled, she turned around and saw a smartly dressed duck with a cane peering at her over his glasses. He had emerged down a thin, gray, cobblestone path, trimmed by a grassy strip spotted with red poppies.


	9. Chapter 9

"Who-who are you?" Danari said. She had to remind herself to keep an open mind. New worlds can work differently, and large ducks in overcoats were part of that equation.

"Scrooge McDuck," he said, rolling his R's a little bit. He chuckled, gestured for her to come closer, and said, "Come with me. Let's get you something for your feet."

Danari felt a little apprehensive about following a stranger, even if it was just a duck, but she did need shoes and he didn't took too malicious. She took a couple tentative steps toward him, and once Scrooge was certain she would follow him, he waddled off toward the castle, but turned left down an alley that weaved through the little houses. All the homes looked the same, down to the same stone base and half-moon flower bed filled with green and blue plants. Between every ten houses was a solid stone arch, that looked like a pathway between the sections of the cities upper levels.

As she looked at the rooftops that peeked over the edge of the overpass, she realized that the sun was high in the sky, which meant it had to have been afternoon. It was dark out when she left the island, and she didn't think she was in the in between place all night.

"So, you're from another world?" Mr. McDuck said, interrupting Danari's thoughts.

"Um, y-yes," Danari replied. "How did you know?"

"Well, lassie, nobody from around here would look as lost as you do."

"Are there many other worlds?" Danari said, and her interest spiked. If his first conclusion was that she was otherworldly, there must be more out there.

"You mean you don't know?" Scrooge glanced back at her, looking as perplexed as a duck can look. "How peculiar."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Danari said, skipping a little to catch up with the duck. He was kinda fast for a guy with a cane.

Scrooge simply chuckled, a warm, belly-chuckle, and said, "Don't worry, it'll be explained in time, but first things first."

After passing under the sixth arch, Mr. McDuck stepped up a short staircase, heavily relying on the support of his cane. Danari had been so used to this cities equilibrium, she was a little taken aback at the crooked house wedged in between the upper level wall and it's neighbor. Instead of tan walls, the walls were white, like its color had been power-washed off, and the rounded door was under a stone moulding. It had dormers that swirled on the ends framing the wooden windows, and a large, right-leaning spire with a weathervane shaped like a purple hat perched on top.

Scrooge knocked on the door and smiled at Danari as he rocked back and forth on his webbed feet. After a couple moments, there was no answer, so Scrooge knocked again and tapped his cane against the door.

"I know you're in there," he said. "Open up! You have company."

"Company?!" Shouted a frazzled, muffled voice from inside the house. "I'm in no position to entertain today. Goodbye!"

"Company from another world," Scrooge said, rapping his cane on the door again. "She hasn't got any shoes, and her feet are burning. At least give her something to wear."

Danari heard a bit of clanging around inside and started to feel like an imposition, or that they might think she was homeless. Danari had never been in a position to accept or refuse handouts, and she didn't know what to do, or if it was wrong of her to accept it in the first place. In an attempt to avoid an awkward refusal, she slowly tried sneaking away, but just as she was about to turn her back, the door flew open.

"Oh, all right! Come in, come in!" Said an elderly gentleman in blue robes and a matching pointed hat. He waved his beckoning arm around so vigorously that caught his long white beard and flung it into the air.

Danari might have said no thank you and walked away if her feet weren't starting to go numb from the heat. She rushed into the little house, and let out a sigh to enjoy the cool red floor that had been in the glorious shade all day. The old man's house wasn't very big, and it looked even smaller with the hundreds of books stacked and strewn across the floor. Desks with more books were scattered around the walls, and a green chalkboard acted as a divider between the main room and the tiny bed in the corner. The old man stepped onto a stone platform in the middle of the room and offered her a chair at the table. She graciously took it, trying not to stare too much at the odd decorating style this old man had.

"There now," Scrooge said after situating himself in a high backed chair, "I bet you're much more comfortable now, Miss… Oh, I don't believe I caught your name!"

"Danari."

"Lovely, just lovely. I'd like to introduce you to Merlin- now what is he doing?"

Merlin was rushing about the room grabbing strangely shaped bottles off the shelves and placing them near a black cauldron. The wall behind it looked a little discolored, like something large used to take up space instead of the pot.

"Just brewing up a pair of shoes for this young lady, just like you asked."

Danari had no idea what these bottles had to do with shoes, but he was very old and she thought better of saying anything. Instead, she said, "It's nice to meet you. Thanks for letting me in."

"Of course, of course! Now, lets see what you're wearing," Merlin said, waving a long brown stick at her. "Stand up, dearie."

Danari rose to her feet and did a little spin. Merlin chuckled, and picked up a green bottle with a long neck. He poured half of it into the cauldron, then did the same with a bottle shaped like a zig-zag. He wiggled his wand over the cauldron, tapped it three times, and mumbled something under his breath. Bubbles boiled over the edge of the cauldron, and yellow sparks shot out of it like fireworks. A stream of smoke drizzled out of the cauldron and floated towards Danari. She sucked in a breath when it wrapped around her legs and started to thicken.

"Don't worry, I'm just taking your measurements," Merlin said. He flicked his wand and the smoke dissipated.

All the surprises of the day had prepared Danari for anything, and magic was the least unexpected thing that could've happened. After a day of invisible floors and talking ducks, she would have been more surprised if she hadn't encountered magic at some point.

She stepped off the platform and stood just close enough to the cauldron to peer inside. The colorful liquid had transformed into a murky, gooey substance that was rumbling and rippling into a solid form. One end stiffened into a tube, and the other curled over to form the foot of a boot. It spliced into a duplicate of itself, and the stripe Danari recognized from her shirt streaked down the sides. Then the boots made a popping sound, and a row of buckles formed from it's tongue.

Merlin grabbed a pair of tongs that were hanging up on the wall beside the cauldron, and fished out the boots. He tapped them lightly with his finger to make sure they were cool, and handed them to Danari.

"Amazing," she said. The boots were warm and had a new leather smell.

"Do you like them?" Merlin said, beaming. "Go on, now. Try them on. Oh, wait!" He stuck his hand inside the left shoe and pulled out a long pair of black socks.

Danari put them on, half expecting them to squish like goop between her toes, and took a couple steps. They were light, comfortable, and a perfect fit. "They're incredible."

"Well, good! I put a bit of my own touch on them. They'll help you run faster and your stamina increases by two-hundred and fifty percent!" Merlin said. "Not that you're going to need it, but it's nice to flex my magical muscles."

"I love them, thank you so much!" Danari said. She did fifteen jumping jacks to test it out, and her feet moved with greater ease than ever before.

"I can make you anything you like," Merlin said as he started rushing back to the bottles on the shelves. "Jackets, hats, scarves, belts… You name it!"

"Let's not get carried away, Merlin," Mr. McDuck said. "I'm certain Ms. Danari is feeling tired from her travels, and there is still plenty more for us to discuss."


	10. Chapter 10

The untouched mug of orange-spice tea between Danari's hands had grown cold because she was too busy trying to comprehend what Merlin had told her about all the worlds to relax with a hot drink. Every time she had gazed at the night sky, Danari had been looking at millions of worlds that were full of life and adventure, and might never have known. She had been staring at her dream in the face, and never recognized it.

Merlin told Danari that the worlds were once separate, divided by darkness caused by the greed in people's hearts, but only recently have some been connected. This world, Radiant Garden, serves as the unofficial meeting place for the representatives of each newly linked world, or for the inter-worldly friends who want to spend a day together. Most of the worlds had a train that ran in the lanes between worlds, and citizens could purchase a day pass to visit Radiant Garden, but other, farther worlds needed permission for special portals to be opened.

After pausing for a second with closed eyes, Merlin launched into a lecture about heartless and nobodies.

"Heartless are the manifestation of darkness in a person's heart, and they form when a person's heart is consumed by another heartless. Nobodies are formed by the body and soul left behind when a strong person becomes a heartless. Many years ago, in a scientific study of the heart, heartless were discovered by a man named Xehanort. He was able to create an artificial heartless, which reproduced by claiming the hearts of innocent people and turning them into heartless as well. In an effort to create a balance between light and darkness, he used the heartless to…"

Merlin's words started to muffle and mix together, and Danari's vision was blurring around the edges. A fuzzy feeling in Danari's head buzzed as her brain struggled to retain all this new information, but the complexity of it all was starting to suffocate her.

"Now, now, Merlin. It's getting very late, and she's already got a lot to process," Scrooge said, tapping Merlin on the hand. "Besides, Xehanort and the heartless have been taken care of, and we'll just confuse the poor thing trying to explain it all in one night."

Danari smiled at Scrooge. As much as she wanted to know everything she could learn, she could feel her eyelids droop. It had been so long since she slept, and the room had grown dim with the night. Still, she didn't think sleep was possible with all the questions she already had simmering in her mind. If only a few of her questions got answered, the haze in her head might dissolve.

"If there are so many worlds, how come I've never heard of any?" Danari asked. She was feeling very small. Everyone knew everyone on the islands, and just thinking that there were millions, if not billions, of people out there who had no idea who she was made Danari feel insignificant. How many people must Sora and Riku have met to make them forget about her so easily?

"Well, many of the worlds do know about each other, now that the lanes between them have been opened," Scrooge said. "But, there are still plenty of worlds that believe they are alone in the universe. You must be from one of them."

"Which brings us back to you," Merlin said, touching his fingertips together. "If your world isn't connected in our circuit yet, how did you get here?"

"I followed my friends," Danari said. "They went through this portal thing, which they called a corridor, and for a while I was stuck in this place covered in blue and white blobs. When I got out, I ended up here."

"So, you have friends that know about the worlds, but nobody else does? How can this be?" Scrooge asked Merlin.

"Perhaps we should be keeping an eye out for them too, that is if their lane exited at the same place yours did."

"They should be here, because that's how I got out." Danari took the first sip of her drink, but scrunched up her face when it was luke-warm on her tongue. "I thought of them, and the exit appeared."

"How peculiar," Merlin said. "The corridors between don't work like that… you have to have a specific location in mind for an exit to appear."

He paused for a moment, so Danari added, "It worked though. I saw them when I got here, but then I met Mr. McDuck and I lost them."

"I'm sorry, lassie. Didn't mean to keep you from your friends," Scrooge said, wearing a concerned look.

"It's all right. They don't know I followed them." Danari's cheeks flushed and she felt ashamed, like she had committed a serious crime.

"Ah. What do they look like? Just so we know who to look for if we happen to see them."

"They're two boys. One is a little taller than the other," Danari said. "The short one has brown hair that sticks out at all angles, and is wearing a black outfit. The tall one has long, silver hair and has a white vest on."

Merlin chuckled a little, turned to Scrooge and said, "I think we've solved the mystery." Then, turning back to Danari, he asked, "Are your friends Sora and Riku?"

Danari sat in stunned silence for a few moments before she slowly nodded her head. She didn't see him use his wand to read her mind, unless he didn't need to use his wand for every kind of magic. Maybe Sora and Riku's disappearance was their forsaking the island as home, moved to Radiant Garden, and Merlin met them in passing one day.

"How did…?" Danari looked back and forth between Merlin and Scrooge, who were smiling at each other.

"For now, we can say that the worlds, especially Radiant Garden, are indebted to them," Scrooge said. "I'm sure they'd love to tell you all about it themselves. So, we'll take you to see them at the castle tomorrow."  
"The castle?" Danari said.

"Of course, Princess Kairi allows them to stay there when they actually have a chance to rest," Mr. McDuck said.

"Princess Kairi?" Danari's head started to swim. She wanted some clarity before going to bed, but every answer resulted in five new questions. "I thought… I don't understand."

Selphie once told her that Kairi came to Destiny Islands when she was a child, but nobody knew where she came from and she had lost all her memory. It was then that Danari recalled boy-Riku's subtle whispers that Kairi had to be from another world, and it was his new mission to find it. None of the adults believed him, they just found her a home and accepted her as an islander without question, like a magic spell quelled their curiosity.

_I guess he completed his mission, _Danari thought. _Who would've guessed we'd been staring royalty in the face. _For a moment, Danari wished she could remember what a princess looked like, but she couldn't summon Kairi's face from her memory.

"Perhaps it would be best if you rested for a bit. We'll take you to the castle tomorrow, and I'm sure your friends will answer all the questions you have."  
"I don't have anywhere to sleep," Danari said, looking out the window. She felt guilty about imposing on the sweet old man who had already helped her so much, but the grey cobblestones didn't look too inviting.

"Don't be silly! Don't be silly," Merlin said as he stood up and waved his hands in the air. His blue sleeves slipped down to his elbows. "I'll conjure up a comfortable place for you." He picked up his long wand and began swishing it haphazardly in the air.


	11. Chapter 11

Merlin's house barely seemed familiar to Danari when she awoke in the morning. Yesterday had felt like a dream, both wonderful and terrifying, and if she weren't lying in a floating, magic bed that Merlin had brewed up for her, she wouldn't believe that it had happened at all. The mouth-watering scent of cherry scones and hazelnut coffee wafted into her nostrils and willed her to roll out of her cozy quilt-cocoon. Her sluggish arms wearily snagged her new boots from under the bed, and she unceremoniously pulled them over each foot. A rush of newfound energy saturated her muscles once her heels sank into the soles.

The scones were left in a basket in the center of the table, and the coffee was steaming in a brown mug next to an empty plate. Scrooge and Merlin weren't around, but she could hear their boisterous voices outside the window. Danari smiled at their thoughtfulness, grabbed the basket of scones, and bounded out the front door to join the two old gentlemen.

They were sitting on a small bench near a plot of flowers, laughing at a squirrel jumping from rooftop to rooftop. When Scrooge noticed Danari come outside, he motioned to the spot on the bench next to him and said, "Good morning, lassie! Why don't you have a seat?"

Danari smiled, wedged herself between Scrooge and Merlin, and picked an exceptionally cherry-filled scone out of the basket. It crumbled in her mouth after the initial bite, but the insides were moist and warm, just how Mrs. Elly always made them. Danari closed her eyes, and she could see Mrs. Elly pulling a tray of treats out of the oven. She never forgot how Danari liked her food prepared, and more importantly she never forgot to have something made every time Danari visited her. Mrs. Elly was more like a mother to her than her own parents.

"So, young lady, you have a couple options," Merlin said as he dug his hand into the basket and pulled out a smaller scone. "We can spend another day like yesterday: in history class, or we can give you a tour of the town. What would you like to do?"

"Both!" Danari said with so much gusto she nearly knocked Scrooge off the bench. "I mean, I want to know everything I can, but I do really wanna see the city. What's the point of being in a new world if I stay inside just listening about it?"

"Very well. We'll tour around in the morning, then hold night class," Scrooge said with a chuckle as he rearranged his top hat.

_Protect your friends._

The non-thought burst into Danari's head so quickly, she had no chance of catching herself from the sudden onset of vertigo. She fell forward off the bench, but caught herself before her head smacked into the cobblestones. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm down, but the dizziness stopped just as suddenly as it had come.

Merlin put his hand on her back and asked something, but Danari wasn't listening. \

_Who is in my head? _She thought, as if whoever was planting these thoughts into her mind could've heard her. But she didn't believe they could, if there even was anyone behind the mysterious messages. For all she knew, her subconscious could've been speaking to her. Unsurprisingly, no response came, and Danari shakily stood up and brushed the dirt from her palms.

The message was right though; she couldn't waste any more time. For all she knew, Sora and Riku might not even be on this world anymore. Danari came to Radiant Garden to make sure they were all right, and to find out where they keep leaving to. Mrs. Elly's worried face flashed into Danari's thoughts, and she knew that she had to bring Sora home safely. If anything happened to him, Mrs. Elly might not be able to hold on to her own life.

Scrooge and Merlin were staring at Danari with raised eyebrows. "I said, what happened, Danari?" Merlin said.

Danari stood, open-mouthed, for a moment. If she told them the truth, they might think she was losing her mind, and that she couldn't handle seeing new worlds. Between sudden amnesia, hearing voices, talking ducks, and magical boots, the idea had even crept into her own mind.

Instead, Danari just said, "I just got a little dizzy. Probably from the heat." Scrooge looked at Merlin apprehensively, then opened his beak to say something. Before he could say that he thinks Danari ought to spend a day resting, or that she might be weaker than he thought, Danari sputtered, "I actaully think maybe I should go find my friends. You said you'd take me to see them."

Scrooge tapped his foot and heaved a sigh, but Merlin sprang off the bench and said, "Oh right! I'll take you there myself. Grab your things, and we'll be off."

"I don't have any things," Danari said.

"Wonderful! Then we can leave now."

"Just wait a minute," Scrooge said, knocking his cane on the side of the house. "Are you sure that's such a good idea? Isn't today supposed to be the council meeting?"

"You make a good point," Merlin said, running his fingers through his beard. "But, Sora and Riku are not on the council. They weren't even supposed to be here at all today. I'm certain taking Danari to see them would be no trouble."

"Well, if there's any problems, whatsoever, I expect you to come right back here."

"Yes sir," Danari said. She leaned over and gave his wing a squeeze. "Thank you, both of you, for giving me somewhere to stay."

The castle guards stood rigid in front of the castle doors with their pikes crossed, barring Danari and Merlin entry. They wore navy blue uniforms with high boots and red neck ties, and their facial expressions were as hard as stones.

Merlin approached the man on the left, cleared his throat, and said, "Excuse me, sir, but this young lady has business with Sora and Riku. Might you let us past?"

Without looking at Merlin, the guard said, "We may let you in, Sir Merlin, but she is not cleared by security."

"All right, then," Merlin said with a sigh. "Standard procedure?"

"Yessir."

The guard turned toward the door and punched a code into the device embedded into the frame. After several minutes of Merlin trying to fill the uncomfortable silence with a lecture about the castle's architecture, a larger man in a similar uniform came around the side of the castle.

"Miss, would please stand with your feet shoulder width apart and answer these few questions with honesty." He sounded bored, like he had already dictated the instructions seven times today.

Danari told the man her name, home-world, who she wanted to see, and what her business was with them. He checked her for weapons, and made no comment about her answers aside from a slight eyebrow raise when she said she had spied on and followed her friends through the corridor.

Finally, the guard stood straight and said, "I'll inform Master Sora and Master Riku of your arrival, and I will return to retrieve you if they wish. Otherwise, I don't believe you are a threat." He turned on his boot heel, and marched back around the side of the castle.

"Well, that wasn't too bad, was it?" Merlin said, shuffling back towards the steps. "We might as well take a seat. We might be waiting a while, so I can tell you about the protruding spires and the architect's unforeseen design flaw."


	12. Chapter 12

An echo of Merlin's shuffling feet accentuated the vastness of the long, white-washed hallway leading to the eastern wing of the castle. A lavender carpet runner covered the middle, marbled floor, but Danari kept close to the wall to minimize the hollow feeling the echo left in her chest. Large paintings of the city streets were framed between each set of arched windows on the opposite wall, and a row of candelabras lighted the hallway from above Danari's head.

The inhabited streets of Radiant Garden looked uniform, but the garden areas close to the castle were decorated with elegant fountains, statues of mighty men with swords, and tranquil waterfalls that gently pool into little streams that line the pathways.

Danari and Merlin were coming up to a left corner in the hallway, and two windows before the turn there was a slightly smaller painting in a plain, golden frame. The speckling of red poppies caught Danari's eye, and she noticed that these houses didn't fit into the same uniform design as the other houses. The roofs were blue, and every house stood alone, not sharing any sides with its neighbors. It looked familiar to Danari, and she stopped to take a closer look. Perhaps Scrooge had led her through this area on the way to Merlin's house, but she remembered thinking every house looked the same. If she had been on the street in the picture, she knew she would've remembered it. Danari shook her head, and told herself she was just confused by the area's uniqueness. She turned away and took several steps toward Merlin. _Still, though…_ she thought, taking one last look at the painting. _Maybe-_

"Danari!"

Danari's attention snapped to the source of her name. Sora was sprinting around the corner, and when he saw her he threw his arms in the air and said, "What are you doing here? How did you get off the island?"

"I- Uh…" Danari glanced over her shoulder once more, then took a couple steps toward him. She looked at her boots and said, "I needed to know where you keep running off too. I mean, you just came home and then you were leaving again, and you won't talk to anyone about it, and everyone is worried about..."

Heat rushed to Danari's cheeks when she remembered the look on Mrs. Elly's face as she talked about her son's disappearances. A fire exploded in Danari's gut that melted any shame she felt for sneaking after her friends behind their backs. She lifted her hardened eyes to meet his easy gaze.

"How could you have so little regard for your mother's feelings?" Danari said, trying to keep her voice level. "Every time you disappear it practically kills her, and you don't even have the decency to say goodbye."

Sora's eyes widened and the smile slipped off his face.

"And you!" Danari pointed her finger at Riku who had sauntered around the corner. His face matched the surprised look on Sora's when Danari's anger abruptly shifted to him. "I don't know your parents very well, but I can't expect they're any less worried than Mrs. Elly! And don't think for a second that Selphie and Tidus aren't hurt either. You think the rest of us just sit around sipping lemonade on the beach while you go off galavanting in other worlds like we don't even matter to you? The whole island gets turned upside down when you run off and you think it's just fine and dandy to pop in and out whenever you please!"

A light burst sensation flickered in Danari's chest, like a bubble popping after floating too high, and her anger spiked. She wanted to strike them, show them the pain they caused their friends and family, but moments later it fizzled like it was blown out by a whisper of breath. It was like her emotions were beyond her control, but yet she knew they were hers, unlike the voice who told her to protect her friends.

Riku and Sora looked at each other, too stunned to say anything. Several moments of silence passed before Merlin cleared his throat and said, "Master Riku and Master Sora, Scrooge McDuck found Danari in the town square. She said she followed you through the corridor. I thought it best to bring her to you."

"I- Uh… Yeah…" Sora said with a quivering voice as he blinked away the well of tears that dared to spill over his lower eyelids. Danari didn't mean to hurt Sora's feelings, or use his ailing mother as a weapon against him, but her guilt was slow to rise.

"Thank you, Merlin," Riku said. "We'll take care of her now."

"Don't be too harsh on her. She's here because she cares," Merlin said, as if his words could erase the scowl setting on Riku's face. "Danari, you can, of course, come by my house and I'll give you that tour of the city if you get a chance."

Merlin hobbled off, back down the long hallway they came from, and Riku held out his arm to direct Danari towards the second door on her left. Danari walked past him like a puppy about to be scolded for chewing on the furniture. She knew she hadn't committed any crime, and that she had just as much right to use the corridor as they did, but she still felt shame for tailing them, and a little for not trusting they had good reason to be so secretive.

She pushed open the heavy, chestnut door and stepped into what looked like a lavish waiting room. Mint-green camelback sofas lined the walls and an ornate, pink and white rug lay skewed on the marble floor. A thick bookshelf stood next to the door frame filled with light reading books, and every chair had either an end table or coffee table to accompany it.

The richness of the room made Danari forget about her impending lecture, but one look at Riku's face reminded her that she was not on a pleasure visit. She sat on the edge of the sofa closest to her, folded her hands on her lap, and started rehearsing her defense.

Riku paced in front of the couch, but Sora took a seat beside Danari and touched her shoulder.

"I would've told her, Mom I mean, but I think it would've done her more harm than good. Really," he said, more like he was trying to convince himself than Danari.

"Why did you have to leave so soon, though?" Danari said, a little more accusatory than she meant.

"We… well…" Sora said.

"That isn't any of your concern," Riku snapped.

"It is if it's my fault you left." Danari glared at him. "How could you two possibly think I would hurt your families?"

"What are you talking about?" Sora said.

"I heard you! You said I was dangerous, and I couldn't be trusted if I was left on the island." Danari felt another bubble of anger burst in her chest. "I'm not some monster!" She stood and bumped her knee into the coffee table, and the rattle echoed in the room.

"Danari!" Sora said, catching her hand. "I didn't mean it like that! I just meant-"

"What? How could you have possibly meant that in any other way! First you treat me like you don't even know me, then you accuse me of trying to hurt people."

"We don't know you," Riku said, and he stepped in front of Danari. "We've never seen you before in our lives, but we come home and everyone who is close to us seems to think you've been on the island forever. Something about you isn't right. You must've done something to brainwash them or maybe you're just a really good liar, but you're definitely not from Destiny Islands."

"Riku!" Sora said, but Danari didn't care to hear any more. She shoved Riku out of her way and headed for the door. She didn't need to protect them, because they could clearly take care of themselves. They thought she was an imposter, maliciously trying to weasel her way into their lives. If that's what they thought, she'd prove them wrong by staying as far away as possible. Another light bubble popped in her chest, and her legs filled with strength to run as fast as her new boots would carry her.


	13. Chapter 13

Tears blurred Danari's vision, but there was enough light to see down the hallway she had come from. As she reached the end of it, she slowed to a halt and leaned against the stoney wall. Her boots kept her from feeling fatigue, so all her breaths were saved for her heaving sobs. Of course she had thought Riku or Sora might've reacted that way. She had known they'd insist that they didn't know her, and before she followed them she had known that they thought she was a threat. So, Danari didn't understand why hearing Riku say the islands weren't her home hurt so badly.

Danari dried her eyes and took a deep breath before heading around the corner towards the castle doors. She didn't want Merlin to see she had been crying, and he couldn't have gone too far from the castle. Standing with a hand on her hip was a tall, slender woman with loose brown curls pinned to the back of her head. She was peering through her round, black-rimmed glasses at a black, leather-bound notepad. Her face was stern and harsh, until she noticed Danari heading her way and smiled so warmly that it made Danari uneasy.

"Leaving so soon?" She said in a voice that could slice steel, yet could also be drizzled over toast.

"Yeah, I'm done here," Danari said. Now that she knew she didn't have real friends here, she could explore the worlds on her own clock.

"What a pity. I was hoping to have a word with you," the woman said.

"Me? Why? Who are you?"

"I am Seridessa, the princess' advisor. Your friends have informed Lady Kairi and myself about your, shall we say, questionable circumstance."

"I'm sorry, but you don't have to worry about me being dangerous. I'm not planning on coming back around."

"Oh, but on the contrary! You have intrigued the Princess and myself, and-"

"So Kairi doesn't remember me either?" Danari said, feeling another pang of rejection.

"Unfortunately not. I understand this must all be very confusing to you, and if you wish, I would like to help you get to the bottom of this situation."

Everything Danari knew about herself could be a lie, and she didn't know if she was ready to accept that. On the other hand, she could find out that Riku is wrong, and that his memories are the ones that are wrong. For weeks, Danari had been questioning who she was and this woman was willing to help her find out. Then again, she was a stranger, and Danari didn't know if she could be trusted.

Without making a firm decision, her heart spoke on her behalf. The words "I'd like that" escaped from Danari's lips before she realized they had been formed.

"Excellent. Follow me," Seridessa said.

Seridessa's office was decorated with heavy deep purple drapes to cover the windows that extended to meet the thirty foot ceiling. The navy blue carpet perfectly complemented the enormous mahogany desk and chair. Everything looked as if they were obsessively organized, each paper had a folder, which was neatly stacked in wooden holders that lined the shelves, and fit so perfectly together that there wasn't a millimeter of space between each one.

"Have a seat," Seridessa said, pointing to the purple camel back loveseat in the corner of the room. Danari complied, and Seridessa sat in her desk chair, opened a drawer, and started shuffling through a stack of papers.

"I'm not lying or anything," Danari finally said after several minutes of unsettling silence.

"What's that?" Seridessa replied, not looking up from her work.

"Riku accused me of lying. I figured you might think so too."

"If I thought you were lying I wouldn't be trying to help you, now would I?" She smiled that unsettling smile again.

"Yeah, sorry." Danari looked down at her fingers.

After another minute passed, Seridessa said, "Why don't you start from the beginning. When did it all start, and what were your first symptoms?"

Danari felt like she was sitting in a doctor's office, or a therapist's because of the fancy couch. "Well," she said. "I guess it started about a month ago. I woke up one morning, and I couldn't remember anything about myself."

"Sounds like basic amnesia, but go on."

"Everyone else seemed to know about me, but it was like we were all in a haze, but it probably only seemed like that 'cause I was so confused. Anyway, after a day or two everything returned to normal, but all I could remember were the facts about myself. You know, who I am, who my parents are, everyone's name."

"And at this point, everyone else seemed to know what was going on?" Seridessa said, and she clicked the end of her pen and started taking notes on a yellow legal pad.

"Sort of, I didn't really pay attention to that."

"Of course. Go on."

"Well since then, and it still happens, but I start remembering things in flashbacks when there's some kind of trigger. Like seeing Sora and Riku yesterday, I instantly remembered which was which before asking."  
"And before that, you didn't know who they were?"

"Well, I did. When my other friends talked about them, I'd remember little things about our childhood, but I didn't have a face to go with the names until I saw them again."

"And what about Princess Kairi? Do you remember her?" Seridessa leaned forward in her chair a bit.

Danari remembered when Selphie told her about the late night slumber parties they had with Kairi, and she remembered laughing in the dark while curled up in a sleeping bag on the floor. Selphie's smile was clear in Danari's memory, but it was like her mind refused to form an image of Kairi.

"Yes and no," Danari said. "I remember knowing her, but not her face."

Seridessa made a low humming noise and pushed a small golden button on the corner of her desk. "Let's see if your memory jogs itself like it did last time," she said.

A moment later, a middle-aged woman in a powder blue dress peeked her head in through the door.

"Bring the princess here, would you please?" Seridessa said.

The lady nodded and backed out, once again leaving Danari in silence.


End file.
